Chip double dipping: Is it gross or not?

The things scientists find to study. The New York Times is reporting on a Clemson Universitystudy that focuses on one of those eternal questions: Should you or should you not double dip your chip?

You know the situation: You have a chip in hand, you stick it in some dip, take a bite and then … Well, if you were brought up by my mother, you do not stick the chip back in the dip. That would spread germs. If you were brought up by wolves, you double dip and germs be damned.

Professor Paul L. Dawson, a food microbiologist at Clemson, was inspired to do the study after watching a repeat of a “Seinfeld” episode in which George Costanza double dips at a funeral and runs afoul of his girlfriend’s brother, Timmy, who is aghast at his slovenly ways. They end up wrestling over the dip.

The study will be published later this year in the Journal of Food Safety. The quick summary is that, yes, double dipping does spread germs. Not a lot but enough to be worrisome. The New York Times says:

Professor Dawson said that Timmy was essentially correct. “The way I would put it is, before you have some dip at a party, look around and ask yourself, would I be willing to kiss everyone here? Because you don’t know who might be double dipping, and those who do are sharing their saliva with you.”

Yuck! Makes you think twice about who you might be swapping spit … er … I mean … dip with this Super Bowl Sunday.

Last spring, The Times reported on another study by Professor Dawson, this one on the five-second-rule (if you drop food on the floor, the rule goes, it’s safe to eat if you pick it up in five seconds). The conclusion: Drop food on the floors and it’s gonna pick up germs, no matter how fast your pick it up.
OK, ‘fess up: Do you double dip? Why or why not? Do you follow the five-second-rule?